Local News

1) SantaCon Buffalo, 1:30 to 6:30 p.m. Dec. 10 in six bars along Chippewa Street. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here, while attendees must check in to receive a wristband at VENU (75 W. Chippewa St.).
Commentary: If you see a peculiar-yet-jolly mass of characters strolling down Chippewa on Saturday afternoon, don't be surprised. The annual SantaCon is a merry bar…

Everyone's going to feel pre-winter's wrath next week.
The coldest air of the season is expected to grip the Buffalo Niagara region starting about Wednesday. And, it's expected to last until at least the end of the week.
Daytime high temperatures might not escape the teens to mid-20s next Wednesday and Thursday, according to the National Weather Service's morning for…

The Food Bank of WNY provided 15.1 million pounds of food over the last year.
That's at least 500,000 pounds more than given away the previous fiscal year and 3 million pounds more than five years ago, reflecting the area's increased demand.
The organization gave 18 percent more food to seniors, 11 percent more to individuals and 8 percent more to families during t…

Concern by family members for a North Buffalo man's well-being resulted in the discovery of his body and a marijuana grow operation inside his home Friday morning, police said.
Officers arrived at the house on Carmel Road at about 10:10 a.m. and had to force their way inside when no one answered the door. The man, described as in his early 40, was deceased, according to…

MAYVILLE – State grants totaling more than $4.7 million have been provided for 23 projects in Chautauqua County in the latest round of Regional Economic Development Council awards, Chautauqua County Executive Vincent W. Horrigan reports.
The largest grant, for $1.48 million, was given to the City of Jamestown to create green space in Tracy Plaza, which surrounds City …

SHERMAN – A brief lockout at Sherman Central School District was linked to a social media threat, reported State Police.
The threat was contained in a post on Facebook by a 15-year-old boy, said State Police.
The 15-year-old was questioned by troopers.
No further information was immediately available.…

Nancy Dobson was young and newly married when she walked into an interview with a tire store executive 46 years ago. All she wanted was a job.
Her husband was attending law school at University at Buffalo, and they needed money. Her husband’s friend, Carl Montante, was looking for help managing the office of his family’s business, the Broad-Elm Tire & Service Ce…

All eyes are on the sky in the Southern Tier, where skiers will be hitting the slopes as early as this weekend.
Holiday Valley in Ellicottville will open five slopes and four lifts at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, said Jane Eshbaugh, resort spokewoman.
“It’s still snowing,” Eshbaugh said Friday morning. “We’ve had 15 inches since Thursday, and we have started making …

A two-building medical office park on Maple Road in Amherst is on the selling block, after a loan servicer took possession of the property on behalf of investors following a loan foreclosure.
CWCapital Asset Management LLC is trying to unload the 20,000-square-foot MedFour Medical Park at 1825-1829 Maple, on 2.16 acres at the southeast corner with Ayer Road.
The two-…

The Southtowns has long needed a new hockey complex. There are now plans to build two in Hamburg, including one with former Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta as a partner.
Liberatore Management Group and Ellicott Development are finalizing plans with the Kaleta Group for a 186,000-square-foot sports and entertainment complex in Hamburg, The Buffalo News has learned. The rec…

LOCKPORT - There are more than 100 abandoned homes in the City of Lockport, and city officials are looking for ways to keep them from dragging down the neighborhoods where they're located.
One idea, being tried for the first time in Lockport on Tuesday, Dec. 13 is to require the winning bidder for a particular home at the annual tax foreclosure auction to live there for…

There is still opposition to closing the Western New York Children's Psychiatric Center, despite assurances made by the State Office of Mental Health that it has addressed concerns about the state's plans to move juvenile psychiatric patients from the West Seneca facility into the Buffalo Psychiatric Center.
Last month, the state agency announced that it would begin see…

Lake-effect snow throughout Friday will add another four to eight inches to Southern Tier counties, but Buffalo and suburban towns are not expected to get any significant snowfall, said David Thomas, meteorologist for National Weather Service.
"Light snow showers will bring no accumulation to the city," Thomas said. "The same for the suburbs of Cheektowaga, West Seneca …

The fire in an apartment on the ninth floor apartment of the Sedita Apartments at Summer Street and Richmond Avenue early Wednesday afternoon caused $40,000 damage, Buffalo Fire Department officials reported Thursday.
No injuries were reported in the fire that was called in about 1 p.m. Wednesday. Damage was listed at $20,000 to the building and $20,000 to contents.
…